Albania

Product Description

The national flag of Albania (Albanian: Flamuri i Shqipërisë) is a red flag with a silhouetted black double-headed eagle in the centre. It is the only red and black flag of a recognised sovereign state.

The eagle is the national and ethnic symbol of the Albanians and was used for heraldic purposes during the Middle Ages by a number of Albanian noble families, including the Kastrioti, whose most famous member was George Kastriot Skanderbeg. The Kastrioti's coat of arms, depicting a double-headed eagle on a red field, became famous when he led a revolt against theOttoman Empire that resulted in brief independence for some regions of Albania from 1443 to 1478. It is generally thought that the eagle derived from the double-headed eagle of the House of Palaiologos, one of the ruling dynasties of the Byzantine Empire.[1]

The symbol was re-used by Albanian nationalists during the 19th century as a symbol of their campaign for the country's independence from the Ottoman Empire. On 28 November 1912, the Albanian Declaration of Independence was proclaimed inVlora and the flag was adopted as the symbol of the new nation.[2]

The flag has gone through a number of changes over the years as different regimes have modified it; for instance, royalist regimes added a crown above the eagle, while the post-war communist regime added a red star and, briefly, a hammer and sickle. However, the original plain design of the flag was reintroduced on 7 April 1992 after the collapse of the communist government.